


The Lines I Draw Between Us

by awake0rdreaming



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Complete, F/M, prequel to The Simple Things That Make Us
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-19
Updated: 2016-01-08
Packaged: 2018-04-27 03:45:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 18,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5032501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awake0rdreaming/pseuds/awake0rdreaming
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Malia has had an unusual upbringing, so college is a completely new ball game and an adjustment from what she is used to. But she about to find out college isn’t just about getting good grades and going to classes. </p>
<p>AU where Stiles and Malia meet in college and everything that transpired before the events of The Simple Things That Make Us. Can be read before or after.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. By Chance

_A/N: Disclaimer for all chapters: Teen Wolf and all of its characters do not belong to me._

\---

Stiles rubbed his forehead. His head hurt. He should have just stayed home and slept. His headache was far from gone, and the weird drink he’d sampled had  _not_  improved things. He went up the stairs where it was much less crowded, and tried a couple rooms of the huge house. The first one was locked, and the second should have been from what he witnessed the couple in there doing. He peered into the third one, seeing it unoccupied and slipped in, shutting the door behind him and resting his forehead on the door.  Finally. Some quiet.

“Well? Why are you just standing there? Lets get this over with” said a female voice in the room. Stiles whipped around startled. He’d thought the room was empty, with the lights off and everything, which it clearly wasn’t considering there was a topless girl sitting on the bed. Well not completely topless, she did have a bra on, thank God, but still.

Stiles swallowed nervously. “Get what over with?” What had he just walked into? 

The girl got up when it was clear the other occupant in the room wasn’t going to leave the door. “The dare. God. How much did you drink? I'm  _not_ lugging you over campus, if you get wasted.” 

“Uh” Stiles looked back at the closed door, trying out figure out how to get out of here. His head was pounding, and he could just make out her figure in the dark room.  He pressed himself to the door, seeing her come closer. He glanced down at the hand resting against him and looked back up, unsure what to do. Suddenly the girl stepped back, quickly removing her hand. 

“You’re not Charlie” her voice was almost accusatory.

“No?” 

“Oh my-!” The girl jumped away and grabbed a blanket from the bed to wrap protectively around her shoulders. Stiles expelled the air in his cheeks with relief and sagged against the door. “Why didn’t you say anything?!”

Stiles held out his hand in front of him to try pacifying her. “I’m sorry. So sorry. I’m not a creep, I promise… I-I uh-” He swallowed again. “Just have a bad headache, and I was trying to-” The door opened, knocking him off balance, making him fall to the floor.

“Malia?” A boy’s head poked over the slightly opened door, not noticing Stiles. “Hey, sorry. Andrea’s falling all over the place. I’m taking her home. You okay on your own?”

“I’m fine. Get her home safely.” The girl-Malia, waved the boy away sounding tired. When the door closed, silence enveloped them, with Stiles still on the floor. He heard the sheets rustle as the girl-Malia, tucked her legs under her, shivering slightly in the chilly room. He looked up when he heard her speak, “I feel the need to tell you, I was on a dare. I don’t usually do this.” Malia gestured to herself, wrapping the blanket around her tighter, like she was very aware of her lack of clothing, now that she knew he was a stranger.

“Yeah. No-I-I didn’t think anything of it.” Stiles said awkwardly as he got up slowly and made to leave. He glanced back, seeing her shiver again. Okay. He didn’t know this girl. At all. But…Quickly making up his mind, he unzipped his sweatshirt, taking it off, leaving him in a black tee. “Here,” he held it out for her to take. In the dim lighting, he saw her looking at him and at the offered garment and then back at him shrewdly, like she was trying to figure out his angle. Stiles shook it at her. “Take it. I can see that you’re cold.” When she still didn’t move, Stiles got a little impatient, and stepped up to the bed, throwing it around her shoulders.

Malia sat rigid for a couple seconds and then after seeming to be fighting an internal struggle, shrugged off the blanket, replacing it quickly with the sweatshirt around her shoulders. “Thanks.”

Stiles nodded, looking away when she’d dropped her blanket. He felt kind of odd looming in front of her, “Can I just sit here for a bit? My head still hurts. I wasn’t even going to drink, but someone passed me something at the door and I-” He cut himself off, glancing back when he thought she’d be done changing. Malia nodded so he took a seat beside her on the bed, but left enough personal space between them.

“Won’t you be cold? It’s windy tonight.” Malia said as she slowly slipped her arms in the sleeves, tucking her chin into the fleece.

“No. I’m actually pretty hot.” He thought about his word choice, and made a face. “I mean like, I’m warm. That drink is probably kicking in, whatever it was.” Stiles was careful to look in front of him while answering. Not because she was still indecently dressed, but it was just weird seeing a girl wear something of his. It seemed like she felt just as awkward.

“So you know Jason?” Malia asked referring to the guy whose party they were at. Stiles nodded, not sure if she saw or not, “Can I leave your shirt with him?” 

“Yeah. That works.” 

“That’s good.”

“Good.” Stiles gave her a sideways glance. Malia had half of her face tucked into the sweatshirt, and her eyes were closed. The corner of his mouth turned up slightly. She was kinda cute. Not like how she looked, because he couldn’t see much of that, but like the way she was trying to cuddle into the warm fleece lining.

“What?” Her voice came out slightly muffled and defensive, “Your laundry detergent smells nice.”

“I didn’t say anything,” Stiles’ smile grew bigger. He turned back to the front, folding his arms on his thighs as he leaned forward. The silence between them after that was almost comfortable. Stiles stood up after a while. “Uh. I’m going to head out. See you around.” He said as a parting, catching Malia wave with a smile of her own, before closing the door. 

He was probably never going to see her again, but oh well. He made his way through the crowded house, and sprinted home, in a way to combat the chilly night. His last thought as he went to bed, was Malia sitting there on the bed, like a woodsy creature huddled in the cold. Sort of an odd thought, but it made him smile.  

—

 


	2. Hit the Ground Running

Malia stared at the nail in the wall like it had personally offended her. Couldn’t the old tenants have at least took all this out before moving out? She just hoped the landlady would charge them instead of charging her. Malia sighed rolling her shoulders, and went back to work. She heard the door open and voices of two people, which she could hear easily. She tried not to eavesdrop, but it was hard not to hear with her super senses.

“This looks decent. Much roomier than mine for sure.” A girl’s voice echoed in the still empty living room.  

“Yeah, the rent was cheap on this one, so I grabbed it before anyone else could.” The boy who answered laughed.

“Looks like your roommate has already moved in. Have you met them yet?”

“Nope. Doesn’t sound like their home though.”

Malia didn’t move to show she was present. She got off the ladder quietly, and took out her headphones, putting a song on repeat, so it would block out any sound. Plus she could use it as an excuse for her lack of presence in the living room. It’s not like the kid needed a Greeting committee or anything. She shrugged to herself and went back to work, switching her tool of choice, when the broken nail wouldn’t come out.

—

She was absorbed in her music enough, that it took a couple moments for her to notice a presence in the room. She turned around and saw a boy leaning on the doorframe grinning at her.

“You must be my roommate.”

Malia took off her headphones and replied, “Actually, I’m just the one hired to patch these walls up.” She deadpanned pointing to the walls in front of her.

“Funny,” Her new roommate gave her a look that said he was well versed in sarcasm.

“Well that is what you get for stating the obvious.” Malia turned back to her work. She heard him shuffling forward.

“I’m Stiles by the way.”

“That can’t be your actual name.” Malia replied, struggling to get the stupid nail out. She sighed frustrated and retrieved another tool from the box. If it were up to her, she would have just punched the wall and filled it later. But her dad had made her promise not to use her strength lightly.  

The boy was watching her amused still, “Well, no its not. But it’s so hard to say, so I decided… Nevermind. Just call me Stiles.”

“Nice to meet you Stiles.”

The room went quiet and Malia hoped it meant Stiles was discouraged to continue this  _ever_  engaging conversation, but movement told her Stiles had entered her room. She turned around holding a hammer in her hand and a screwdriver in her mouth, to see him pick up the sweatshirt that was slung on her chair.

“This is mine. Why do you have my sweatshirt?” Stiles asked confused. He narrowed his eyes, looking at her, “Topless girl?”

As her jaw dropped, the screwdriver tumbled down from her mouth and fell down the ladder steps with a loud clang. Malia pursued her lips, fighting the heat she could feel on her cheeks. This was not the kind of first impression she would have liked him to have of her. Yes, this was definitely the same boy. All his clothes smelled of the same laundry detergent. She needed to find the name of the brand.

“Not completely.” She replied instead. To say this was a weird beginning was an understatement.

—

Stiles didn’t know how to react to this situation. He was awkward by nature, but meeting your roommate for the first time, and finding out she was the girl at the party was something out of a movie. Not like something embarrassing had happened, like getting drunk and actually making out with her, but it was definitely going on his continually growing ‘things I would rather didn’t happen to me again’ list. He played with the sweatshirt in his hands, searching for something to say.

“Weren’t you going to return this to me? It’s been like…a week!”

“Four days. It was four days ago” Malia said in a  matter of fact tone.  

“Yeah. Almost a week.”

Malia made a face, sitting down on the ladder’s top step. “I tried giving it to Jason, to return it to you but he said he couldn’t really work off of, ‘possibly dark eyes, 5'10ish, fit , and brunette’ and he has a point. It’s not much to go off on.” She studied him quietly saying, “I was right on most parts. You are maybe an inch or so taller than me, plus the hair gives you the extra inch.” She said gesturing above her own head.

Stiles had to grin at that.  He had to agree on the vagueness of his looks, since that description fit half of the male population in the party. And she had referred to him as fit. How she could have known that in the dark room was a mystery.  Malia seemed to be able to read his thoughts on that because she said, “That’s how I knew you weren’t Charlie. Charlie does not have abdominal muscles. He has what they call… A beer belly?”

Stiles laughed, “Okay. Right. Well this has been a sufficiently awkward second meeting. I hope for your sake, that no one ever asks about first impressions and how we met. Both times.” He added.  

Malia grinned thinking of her dad’s reaction, if she ever told him. She was sure hearing someone refer to her as ‘topless girl’ would not go over well. She took a deep breath, “In that case, let’s start over. Again I guess.” She reached out her hand, “Hi, my name is Malia. I am your roommate this year.”

Stiles took her warm hand in his shaking it formally, “I’m Stiles. Nice to meet you, Malia.” Stiles dropped her hand, looking around the room, “Well after you’re done with that,” he pointed to the wall, “Want to go get some lunch?”

Malia smiled,“I’ll come get you.”

Stiles nodded and went into his room to unpack. Malia climbed the steps, returning to her task. She noticed Stiles had mentioned her playing with the nail at least twice, but had not offered to do it himself, once. When she had been moving in, boys would see her struggling even a little bit and would offer to do it for her. Stiles looked like he had been around enough girls who could take care of themselves, to know not to offer unless he was asked. She had a feeling they would get along just fine.

—

Malia was sitting on the one ugly couch in the living room, when Stiles came and sat on the armrest beside her. He waved a pamphlet in her face, making her jerk back to look at it. “I’ve found three things we could possibly do today. I say we do the talent show Café thing first, and then tackle the others later depending on our mood.”

Malia groaned, “I told you I’m not doing any Orientation Week things. I’m glad it’s almost over. The campus has been so noisy. You wouldn’t know, you just got here.” She curled up sitting with her feet pulled under her, her favourite book in her hand.

Stiles took it from her so she would give him her undivided attention. “We need to make friends, Malia.”

“I have friends. Give me back my book.”

“More friends.”

“I have you and Andy. Isn’t that enough? Why do I need more?”

Stiles opened his mouth to answer, when a short girl with curly brown hair walked in unannounced, “Okay, I checked out all the floors and didn’t find a single cute guy.” She gave Stiles a quick once over and turned back to Malia, “Not a single one.”

“Thanks,” Stiles said insulted, “like I didn’t have an inferiority complex already.” Who was this girl?

Malia looked between the two, sensing negative vibes, “This is just Andy’s opinion. That girl who helped you move in thought you were cute.” She offered hoping to diffuse the situation.

Stiles frowned, “I thought you were too busy to hear me come in? Were you eavesdropping?”

Andy looked between the two, as Malia searched for some explanation to cover her blunder. “My point still stands. That girl thought you were cute.”

“Cute? Like I want to be thought of as ‘cute’. People think babies and puppies are cute. Guys don’t want to be known as cute.”

“I am simply stating what I thought she might have been thinking. I don’t actually read minds, Stiles. Maybe, we should just ask  _her_ what she thought of you. Would you like that?”

Andy rolled her eyes, “As  _fascinating_ as this conversation is, Malia and I have to go.” She took Malia by the arm but the other girl didn’t budge.

Stiles smiled smugly, crossing his arms across his chest. “Good luck. I’ve been trying all evening to get her to leave.”

“Why do I need to meet more people?” Malia repeated, “I have you two. That’s more than enough for me.” Malia pulled away from Andy’s grip.

“Do you really want to limit yourself to the two of us?” Andy pointed to herself and Stiles continuing in her dry tone, “I don’t know him, and even I can see your roommate is not exactly a ball of sunshine.” Stiles grunted, but did not oppose her.

Malia tried searching for the right words, so her friends would stop asking her to leave with them. She had found in the days that she had been here, that people immediately would ask where she was from and what school she went to. As soon as she mentioned she was homeschooled, people would get weird around her, like that limited their chances of finding common things. It was becoming enough of a common occurrence for her to be sensitive on the subject.  

“I share some things with people, and then they just are weird after. I don’t wish to repeat the experience personally. You two can go though.” Malia yanked her book back from Stiles, doing her best to ignore the two people looming over her.

Stiles’ eyebrows shot up surprised and he exchanged a glance with the other girl. What could people possibly have already said to make Malia not feel like socializing anymore? It seemed like the subject really bothered her, so he tried teasing her with something random, “What did you share? Is it something kinky like bondage?” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Malia, instead of answering back the way he was expecting, turned toward him curiously, “What is bondage?”

Stiles cleared his throat, “Uh… I guess that’s not it.” Malia however did not seem to clue in to his discomfort. Or if she had, she didn’t understand it. She did however look at him like she was expecting him to explain to her what he brought up. Stiles’ cheeks coloured.

“Is it binding something?”

“Sort of. More like someone.  But it’s done for fun?” Stiles swallowed, looking at Andy for help. Andy, though seemed like she was thoroughly enjoying this.  

Malia looked thoughtful, “That sounds like torture, not fun.”

“Oh God,” Stiles turned his eyes up to the ceiling, “I don’t really know much on the subject…”

“Sure” Andy smirked

Stiles glared at her before turning to Malia, “…But it’s like I tie your hands, and it’s consensual because you are willingly giving up control. And then I take care of you however you like, possibly sexually. But not,” He gestured to the two of them, “me and you. You as in people like… Me and you.” he finished, his face a bright red.

Malia nodded, “Okay. Sex with props.”

“Basically.” Stiles said, eager to be done with this subject. He clapped his hands, “Okay, get ready. We’re going out” he said briskly. Seeing Malia protest, he cut her off. “No. It’s beautiful outside, the sun is still out. We’re at least going to explore the campus if not attend some of the activities. Now go get ready.” Stiles pointed to her room, clearly not taking no for an answer. Malia huffed in annoyance, but got up and left to change.

Once she had left Stiles turned to the other girl, “Thanks for no help at  _all._  Did she go to an all girls school or something? She’s even more socially awkward than I am.”

“I’m guessing that’s saying something?” Andy said. Stiles rolled his eyes. “I’m Andy by the way.”

“Stiles.” Stiles paused remembering something. ‘Wait. Andy? As in the one ‘falling all over the place’ at the party?”

When Malia came back she didn’t question why Andy was glaring at her, or why Stiles looked so happy.  She already knew these two would never be friends, so she shrugged it off. “Okay, let’s go. But if it’s boring, I’ll leave.” she warned. Stiles nodded just happy that he had succeeded in persuading her.

As they headed out, Malia turned to Stiles, “I meant to ask, what laundry detergent do you use?” Stiles’ laugh could be heard echoing down the hall.

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Lovelies! Hope you enjoyed that second meeting, and Stiles and Malia’s awkwardness with each other. They are so adorable! Also, for the purpose of the story, I needed an outsider’s view to set off the dynamic that Stiles and Malia present, when needed. Hope you liked it. All mistakes are my own :)
> 
> ~Nenz


	3. Right on the Road

Malia was leaving the lecture hall, when the sandy haired boy with the aesthetically pleasing face who had sat beside her in class, caught up and began walking with her, matching her strides easily. 

“Hey there.” Malia turned and smiled at him but continued to walk. “I know this is the first time we are actually talking, but I was wondering if it was possible if I could get your notes for the next class? I’m going to be away so…and well, I know you take good notes.” 

At his statement, Malia stopped in her tracks, causing the person behind her to slam into her shoulder. They swore loudly, maneuvering around her, but Malia took no notice, much to the amusement of her companion.  “How do you know I take good notes?”

“I’ve been sitting beside you in class since the semester started. They are really detailed.” He said looking impressed.

“Oh. Okay, you can have my notes. Just give them back after copying them.”

“Thanks,” the guy smiled, “I’m Todd by the way.”

“Malia.” Malia replied continuing on her way. He walked alongside her. 

“Malia. That’s a nice name.”

“Thanks.”

“Uh. So where are you heading?”

“My place is just at the end of campus. I’m meeting up with my friends to go study at the library.”

“Oh wow. You mean you live in one of those apartments that’s for independent living? Like doing your own groceries and cooking? That’s so grown up.”

Malia turned to him, wrapping her cardigan around her as they stepped outside, “It’s nothing that I didn’t do at home, only the company’s different.”

“And the late classes, and coffee breaks, and sleepless nights, and endless homework for miles that never seems to stop?” Todd grinned. “Admit it. What you’re doing is pretty dope.”

Malia grinned knowing he was complementing her. She figured that ‘dope’ meant something cool by Todd’s expression. They walked and talked about day to day things as Todd accompanied her across campus. He seemed nice, though she didn’t get why he was still walking with her.

She spotted Stiles outside waiting by his jeep for her, frowning while looking at his phone. She brought out her own cheap one that Stiles had forced her to buy recently. Stiles had been appalled to find out she didn’t own a cellphone. They had their, ‘how do you get a hold of anyone’ conversation and ‘to get with the times’ conversation, until she caved. Malia made a face while texting him. What was she saying? She  _always_ caved. Stiles should have been studying to become a lawyer, instead of his current major.  

“Oh hey. Are we here?” Todd asked when Malia stopped in front of a building. She nodded about to say bye and thank him for walking her home, when he said, “Maybe we could hang out sometime… After class.”

Malia glanced in Stiles’ direction quickly and turned back to Todd, “I go to the library after class like I told you.”

“Well, I didn’t mean today. Just… here take my number down, and let me know if you want to meet for coffee when you’re taking a break from studies.” At Malia’s hesitation, he added, “Or we could just be note partners. I still need your number to contact you.”

“Right.” That she could do. Malia took down his number as he recited it. She called the number quickly so he would have hers too. “Okay, text me next week when you would like the notes.”

“Okay, yeah thanks.” Todd pursued his lips, but smiled nonetheless before heading back. Malia let out a sigh of relief watching him walk away. Talking to people was so challenging. She could smell the disappointment on him and felt bad, but she didn’t even know him. Wasn’t he expecting too much too soon? 

She turned and headed towards the parking lot, where Stiles was leaning against her side of the door, arms folded and watching her with a smirk that told her right away that he had seen her with Todd. Great.

“Got a date tonight?” Stiles cocked an eyebrow at her, “Wow. You work fast.”

“Shut up.” Malia nudged him so he would get off the door so she could get in. “He wanted my notes.”

Stiles leaned his arm against the window still blocking her, “I’m sure that wasn’t the only thing he wanted,” his voice teasing. 

“Don’t make me punch you Stiles.” Malia said with no real threat in her voice. Malia was used to this by now. She knew when Stiles looked at her that way, he was being a jerk.

Stiles laughed as he went around and got into the driver’s side, Malia taking her seat beside him. It was a bit chilly that day and the campus was huge, so they drove over to the library. 

Malia suspected the real reason was because Stiles was lazy. She turned to him when he spoke, “Figures you would be a jock type. Pretty people always find each other.”

There it was again. A word she didn’t know but was crucial to understand what Stiles meant. “What’s a jock?”

Stiles sighed inwardly. He felt like talking to Malia would be similar to talking to his grandma or something.  “A jock is a type of guy in high school. You know, the athletic guy, attractive, good with the girls and sometimes even smart?”

Malia thought about this. She turned to Stiles and said, “You are three of the four things. Does that mean you are a jock?”

Stiles bit his tongue, stopping himself from asking which one he wasn’t. He shook his head, realizing he really didn’t want to know the answer to that, as he parked into the lot in front of the library. “Uh, no. I’m not a jock.”

Malia got out of the jeep, and continued their conversation as they headed in, “But you’re part of a sports team. You must have been or you wouldn’t have these,” she said as she squeezed his upper arm gently. 

“I was, yeah. Lacrosse. I was bad at it though.” Stiles answered as he slung his backpack on his shoulder. The touch unfazed him, because he had learned earlier on that Malia was naturally a touchy person. She wasn’t flirting, it’s just how she was. “I could pass just fine. A pass is when you throw the ball to another, better player so they can get a point for your team.” he added automatically.

“But that doesn’t make me a jock. It’s like they have a superior air about them.” he sighed, “I don’t know, okay. I just know I myself don’t identify as one.” Stiles stopped walking and looked at her. “I’m just… Stiles.”

Malia was right though. He did fit the persona. The whole premise of a jock was someone who played sports and was a jerk, and Stiles knew himself well enough to know he wasn’t the nicest person on the block.

Malia watched as Stiles looked down at his shoes, the vulnerability showing on his face, making his features softer. She could see in that moment how someone could find Stiles attractive. Objectively of course. She also sensed that the topic was what was making him unsure of himself.

She took hold of his wrist to make him look up. Stiles met her eyes to see Malia smiling at him, “Okay. Stiles it is.” she said with finality. 

Stiles smiled back, somehow feeling better. Despite Malia’s odd behaviorisms, he liked her straightforward, no nonsense approach. Everything was at face value, with no guess work. He needed more of that uncomplicated aspect in his life. Stiles led the way to their table at the back feeling much lighter.

“What took you guys so long?” Andy who was holding their table, whispered loudly, and earned a couple dirty looks. Malia sent Stiles a warning glance, so he kept quiet while she gave some excuse for their tardiness, followed by more exasperated noises from Andy. 

—

Later that night, Stiles came out of his room, grabbed a bowl of spaghetti from the fridge and sat in front of the TV. He noticed Malia was sitting at the kitchen table, looking at her phone periodically. “Lover boy texting you already?”

“It’s Andy.” Malia said, ignoring the dig. “She wants me to join her at a party she’s at. Who has a party on a Wednesday?”

Stiles swallowed the morsel he was chewing, eyes still on the sports game he was watching. “Are you going to go?”

“Maybe. I think she might already be drunk. Half of this is barely legible. Do you want to come?” Malia looked at him hopeful but Stiles shook his head. 

“I have a paper to write, that’s due tomorrow. Just taking a brain break right now,” he grinned.

“Good luck with that.” Malia shook her head. Stiles was always doing things last minute, but it seemed to work for him because he would literally power through it until he was done. “Okay, I’ll be back soon. See you in a bit.”

Stiles waved as she headed out the door.

—

It was two o'clock in the morning when Stiles finally stepped out of his room. He rubbed his face with his hands tiredly and checked to see if Malia was back yet, but her bed was empty. 

Getting slightly worried, Stiles grabbed his phone and checked to see if there were any missed calls. There was one, but that was two hours ago. Where was she? He quickly dialed her number, and Malia picked up on the fourth ring.

“Malia? Where are you? It’s two in the morning! Don’t you have early class tomorrow?…Malia?” Stiles checked to see if the call had been cut off, but the phone was still connected. In a much softer voice, he tried again, “Malia?”

“I’m outside,” came a muffled voice from the receiver. “Our apartment door. I’m outside,” there was a pause, and Stiles listened carefully sensing she was upset about something. “I’m coming in, just…go to bed, Stiles.” 

The phone clicked and Stiles hung up, really worried now. But it was clear Malia didn’t want to talk about it, so he unlocked the front door and quietly went to his room, shutting the door. He lay in bed straining to hear if she had come in, until he dozed off.

— 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Lovelies. A bit of an ominous ending I know, but it will be continued in the next chapter. On a happier note, I hope you are enjoying the Stalia banter and growing closeness ;) Until next time. All mistakes are my own. And hope you like.


	4. In the Flume

—

Stiles was at the library, his study group just packing to leave, when the guy beside him nudged his elbow. “Hottie across the hall, two o'clock.” 

Stiles looked in that direction immediately, spotting a tall brunette with long legs, accentuated by the dark skinny jeans she was wearing. She had long brown hair, slightly wavy and messy, but still looked well put together. He was about to agree with his partner Darren, when his eyes travelled from her light blue sweater to her face, belatedly realizing he was looking at Malia. Shit.

She saw him and waved smiling. Stiles gave a small wave back, feeling heat in his cheeks, embarrassed that he had been gawking at her open mouthed. He looked down, relieved that she was still far away enough for her not to notice him blush. He hoped she hadn’t noticed him fully checking her out either.

“Dude, you know her?” 

“Yeah, she’s my roommate.” Stiles mumbled, head still bent over his book, avoiding any eye contact if he could help it.

Darren whistled low as he got up to leave. He openly checked Malia out without shame. “Damn, I’m jealous! You’re so lucky!”

Stiles smiled, not adding the challenges living with Malia included.

Just the other day she had come in from class and asked what a bj was. Stiles who had just taken a sip of water, had sprayed it spectacularly in his surprise. Already having explained bondage, he had no desire to indulge her curiosity and his embarrassment of what a blow job was. After finding out two boys sitting behind her were comparing ‘notes’ so to speak, peaking her curiosity, he had just looked it up online and handed the phone to her without a word. Seeing her scroll down more than enough times, had Stiles snatching it away from her. 

He was sure she had absorbed enough information on how to give good head, for him to be envious of the guy she would end up with.

What was he? An encyclopedia of knowledge for all sexual terms?

When Malia sat down, she frowned in the parting boy’s direction. 

“What was that about?” 

“He was admiring you.” Stiles replied. He had learned earlier that Malia was an excellent lie detector, so being upfront was better than being caught, which he had been. More than once. 

“I don’t think admiring is the word,” Malia muttered, getting her textbooks out. She couldn’t very well mention how she had heard him perfectly while crossing the room.

Stiles nodded in agreement, “More like leering I guess.”

“Why?”

“Cause you’re pretty.” Stiles said matter-of-factly, bending over his book reading. “But he just doesn’t know what a pain in the ass roommate you are though.”

Malia looked up from her work at Stiles, who raised his eyes to hers, breaking into a grin to show he was joking.

“Jerk,” Malia stuck her tongue out as Stiles shrugged, smile lingering on his face. 

“Are you sticking around?” he asked, studying her as she switched into her serious study mode.

“Only for a bit.” Malia murmured, turning her head to the side, like she was listening for something. 

They fell into easy silence, Stiles not questioning her sudden appearance, and Malia not explaining. Come to think of it, she had been ‘bumping’ into him quite often these past few days. It was getting less and less as the days went by, but again, no one brought it up.

Stiles was almost done his readings, when he felt someone staring in his direction as they walked by. 

He looked up in time to see a boy with beefy arms about two years his senior, coming towards them. His nostrils were flared in anger, his lips drawn in a thin tight line and he was sporting a puffy eye, which was turning a nice shade of purple. Stiles instinctively shrank back in his chair as the guy drew closer but passed by without a word.

Confused to see this anger directed at him, he turned to Malia noticing then her hands clench into fists, her entire frame rigid. Realization dawned on as Stiles slowly connected the dots. 

He saw how tightly she gripped the pen in her hand, seeming like she could snap it in half easily. Even when he knew the guy was long gone, Malia stayed there fists tightly clenched. Stiles reached over slowly, covering her hand with his, willing for her to look at him. When Malia finally did, Stiles noticed her expression was hard, and angry. He swallowed, getting nervous. He had never been a victim to her anger and he couldn’t help but feel like the anger was aimed at  _him_. 

Maybe it should have been. 

Despite this, Stiles stayed by her keeping eye contact, caressing her knuckles with his thumb. Malia responded better to physical contact. He could tell even now, she was starting to calm down. He gripped the pen from her hand seeing it ready to crack, and pried it from her fingers. 

It was like that act finally broke the spell, and the fire died from her eyes. Malia blinked a couple times, looking at Stiles with a slightly confused expression. Stiles continued to caress the tops of her fingers with his thumb, until Malia slowly withdrew her hand from his. 

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Malia sighed turning away. In a low voice she explained what had happened. She had gone to the party looking for Andy and had asked a boy if he had seen her.

“He told me he knew where I could find her.” Stiles’ stomach felt uneasy as he heard the tremor in her voice.

Malia took a deep breath and continued, “I saw the room was empty and I-I turned and asked him where she was. He told me she wasn’t there, and then he came at me– I hit him. That’s what happened.” 

They sat in silence for a while. Malia eventually turned to him, “Why would he do that?”

“He wanted something from you.” Stiles said carefully, trying to gage her reaction from where he sat. “Something he knew you wouldn’t give. So he tried taking it anyway.” 

Malia felt dread wash over her. That was horrible. What’s more, the stranger’s actions had almost cost him his life. She had panicked and lost control and it had been quick reflexes that had saved him from real harm. He was drunk and probably not believe even if he did see anything, but that was too close a call to be taken lightly. She had to learn better control. She needed to be more aware of her surroundings. She had to remember that not everyone was like Stiles. 

Stiles felt Malia grip his wrist to the point of being painful, until she realized what she was doing when Stiles whimpered softly. She let go quickly, now being the one to rub the inner part of his wrist to get the blood flow going.

Stiles watched her as she did this. He couldn’t imagine what could be running through her mind. Her severe reactions to the guy walking by and what Stiles had just said, showed how disturbed by the events she was.

“You got him good though,” he said softy. “You got him real good.”

—

They spent the night in front of the TV, books forgotten. Malia sat half-way through a basketball game, where Stiles was explaining the rules, before she switched the remote to a movie. Stiles made a face, personally not a fan of romantic comedies.

“You were doing so well understanding the game,” he grumbled as Malia got up to make popcorn.

“Why would you want to watch people throwing balls in nets anyway? It gets very repetitive after a while.” Malia said from the kitchen.

“Well, when you put it that way!” Stiles responded sarcastically.   

When she came back, they sat on one of the couches legs tangled together in the middle, stuffing their faces with popcorn.

Stiles had been trying to watch the movie for the past twenty minutes, but his mind kept going back to Malia. Nothing seriously bad had happened he knew, but it still angered him. He couldn’t help be protective over her. Malia was a strong willed person but she was naïve. That fucker had taken advantage of that, abused her trust. Now there was nothing he could do except be there for her, but he still felt like it was his fault. If he had just driven her… 

His thoughts got interrupted when Malia turned to him, “People actually like this stuff?” she said in disbelief. “What are the chances that two best friends would fall in love with sisters? How is that even realistic?”

“Maybe its not supposed to be realistic?” Stiles tried, “It’s like a fantasy right? People sometimes want to be in love so bad, they just want to get to that point and don’t care about a realistic aspect.”

“Like you and Lydia?” Malia asked. Stiles grimaced. Never getting shit-faced again! He was sure she brought it up now just to torture him.

“Uh, yeah I guess,” Stiles agreed. Malia had no tact. He should be used to these right hooks by now though. “But not for her. She doesn’t really like me that way.”

“Would you like for her to like you that way?”

Stiles thought about this, “I dunno. I think we are different people now. We’re actually closer than we were, when I did like her. Funny how that happens huh?” Stiles was happy that him and Lydia were in a good place. He did still care about her, but in a friend way which was nice.

Malia watched as Stiles’ eyes took a distant look. Now that wouldn’t do. They were supposed to have a silly fun time. She grabbed a handful of popcorn and threw it at his face.

“Hey!” Stiles snapped, scowling at her.

Malia grinned, “I lost you for a minute there.”

“I’m a bad influence on you” Stiles picked a kernel from his shirt, popped it in his mouth and pulled the blanket laying on the back of the couch, for them to huddle under. Malia’s feet were always icy cold.

Malia sat with her left side leaning against Stiles’ folded legs, as she draped the blanket over her. She spent the rest of the night ripping romantic ideologies to shreds, thankfully for Stiles, not relating them to his failed attempts to woo anybody.

—

Stiles woke up the next morning on the couch. He felt something poking his back and went to put his hand to take it out, when he noticed a heavy weight on his chest. Looking down, he noticed Malia half lying on him, sandwiched between him and the back of the couch. A quick look at the clock showed it was 11. Thank god it was a Sunday, or he would have been screwed.

“Uh..” Stiles looked around trying to figure out what to do. They must have dozed off when the marathon movies had started after, because the TV was still on, with some infomercial about a super vacuum cleaner. He reached the floor for the remote and turned it off quickly.

Biting his lip, Stiles shook Malia gently, “Malia? Hey, wake up.” This action didn’t really do anything other than make Malia snuggle even more onto his chest.

“Five more minutes,” Malia mumbled softly, tussled hair covering her face.  

Stiles laughed. Malia must have been a nightmare to wake up if she was a ‘five more minutes’ type of person. All this would have been very amusing, if he didn’t have to use the bathroom though. He shook her more forcefully this time, succeeding in waking her up.

Malia grumbled as she looked up at Stiles with bleary eyes. Stiles grinned. “ Good morning.” 

“Morning,” Malia yawned closing her eyes and resting her head back down. Stiles had to only wait two seconds for Malia to shoot up to a sitting position on the couch.  She looked at Stiles confused as to why she was on top of him on a couch in the living room.

Stiles grinned, enjoying her expression, “The movie had to have been really boring” he offered.

“Ugh, what time is it?” Malia asked as she got up from the couch.

“A little past eleven, I think.” Stiles yawned, snuggling back under the warmth of the blanket.

Malia made a face seeing him, and padded softly to the kitchen “Scrambled eggs?”

“Scrambled eggs,” Stiles agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hullo Lovelies! This chapter dealt with a bit of a delicate subject so it took twice as long to handle it in a decent manner, and lot a rewriting. I had ideas for a Halloween chapter, but it didn’t work out, so sorry if you were expecting that. I hope you like reading it as much as I loved writing it :)
> 
> All mistake are my own


	5. The Sun in Your Eyes

—

Stiles looked at his phone for the third time to see any missing texts from Malia. They were supposed to be at the movies by now. Getting impatient, he gave her a call, “Where are you?” 

He rolled his eyes, annoyed. Still at the library, typical. Malia was such a nerd sometimes. “Okay, I’m coming to get you. Which floor-Why are you-It’s HUGE!” he said almost smacking someone in the face because of his flailing. He got a couple weird looks from people but ignored them as he hopped into his jeep.

Getting to the library, he eyed the number of steps to the first floor. Oh hell. Why did have to be the fourth floor?

—

Malia was sitting amongst the shelves in the back of the room. She could hear the footsteps on the stairs getting closer and knew exactly when Stiles had arrived. If he had super senses, he would have had an easier time finding her, but that was out of the question with him being human. 

By the time Stiles stood in front of her, he looked exhausted and disheveled, his hair standing up in all different directions. Malia took one look at him and snorted. 

“I’m glad one of us finds this funny,” Stiles panted, collapsing on the carpeted floor beside Malia, who was on her knees shelving heavy looking books. “You could have at least told me what section you were in.” 

“And what fun would that be?” 

Stiles scowled leaning his head against the shelves on her side and looked at her. “Are you done yet?”

“I think you know the answer to that,” Malia said, her gaze following his to the pile of books. “If I leave it until tomorrow, it just grows.”

“Who voluntarily comes to the library on a Friday? You are officially the most boring person I know, Lia.” 

Malia blinked hearing the nickname. No one had ever called her Lia. Her name was pretty short to begin with. Trust Stiles to come up with something shorter. 

She gave him a look, “Have you seen the library lady? She’s a tiny little thing, and whoever works with her on her floor, is out on leave. She was trying to lift heavy books by herself. So I said I would help. It’s no big deal.” 

Stiles sighed. How did he always end up being friends with morally good people? Malia reminded him so much of Scott sometimes. He looked around, “Mythology and Folklore? This is a pretty huge section.”

Malia nodded, “I’m minoring in it. There are a surprising amount of people that believe this is real,” she watched him to see if he would laugh. He didn’t, but he didn’t seem surprised at the statement either, just intrigued. 

Malia found herself hoping if he did accidentally find out what she was, he would respond in a similar fashion. Either way, she wasn’t taking any chances. Stiles was yet to notice her not being home on full moons and she wanted to keep it that way, however tricky it might be. 

Malia continued with her task, and after catching his breath Stiles started shelving the books with her. It was quiet work, and he probably would not have pegged his Friday evening to be in the library, in the most dustiest, bad lighted section, shelving books. But here they were. 

Stiles’ phone dinged and he was surprised there was even reception here. He read the message and then tucked the phone away. 

“Why do you even bother asking me to come every time you are invited to places?” Malia asked quietly, “You don’t see it, but the person that invites you doesn’t like me there.” 

She didn’t mention the ugly comments she had heard being whispered about her, but figured she didn’t really need to.

Stiles paused and then continued restocking the shelves as he spoke, “I don’t like going there alone,” was his answer, which Malia concluded wasn’t an answer but an invasion technique. She didn’t know what he would want to avoid talking about but she didn’t press him.

— 

Stiles was separating the books in sections when the words on a spine caught his attention and he really took notice of the books he was shelving this time. Some were written in a foreign language, but most of the titles held the names of supernatural creatures he knew thanks to the beastiary. He picked up an old worn out one, opening to a random page. There was a detailed description of a creature called a Balor, a giant with a large eye in his forehead that wreaks destruction when opened.

In another lifetime Stiles might have seen this and snorted his disbelief that such a thing could exist. He however, knew now that something that was referred to as ‘a being that causes blight’ didn’t seem all that far fetched. 

The thought unsettled him and he closed the book quickly, checking to see where it belonged. Maybe he should mention this place to Scott, in case they ever needed to find more information on creatures that had been so extensively researched on, that it needed a whole section to itself.

Malia wasn’t in the same spot when he returned, and it took him a while to find her. How did she move so quietly? He found her sitting on the floor book in her hand, and took a seat beside her, not bothering to look at the title. If he had, he might have wondered of all things, why she picked a book on were creatures. 

“So mythology huh?” Stiles said conversationally.

“I have a paper to finish in three weeks, so I’m researching and working at the same time. I’m killing two birds with one stone.”

“So this is why it’s taking longer than necessary? Working at the library I mean.” He folded his knees and rested his hands on top. 

“Partially.” Malia pushed her hair off her face with both hands and looked at him, “Mostly, its because its quiet and only a certain  _someone_  bothers to bug me here.” Malia nudged Stiles with her shoulder.  

Stiles laughed. The sound echoed in the large room, “I’m the reason you haven’t turned into a hermit yet. You should be thanking me.”

Malia opened her mouth, a witty comeback at the tip of her tongue when the phone dinged again, twice. They both looked down at the sound. “You should go.” Malia said, “I’ll be fine. And it won’t look nice if we both back out of the plan last minute.”

Stiles pursed his lips and looked down at the state of his clothes. Not bad. Not great either but considering it was just a bunch of college kids, he was sure it would be fine. 

“Yeah, okay. You sure you don’t want to come?”

Malia nodded, “I’m sure.” 

Stiles nodded standing up and gestured to himself, “How do I look?” 

Malia laughed standing up as well. “Like you should watch were you walk.” She pulled Stiles’ head down towards her, and he let her with a small sound of protest at her roughness, which she ignored.  

Standing on tip toe, Malia removed the worst of the cobwebs from his gelled hair as carefully as possible, moving her hands to dust down his shoulders, picking specks of fluff from his front.  

“There. Much better.” She smiled up at him, only then noticing how close their faces were. Her eyes betrayed her as they dropped down briefly to Stiles’ lips.  She found herself thinking how this was the perfect height for if— 

Malia hastily stepped back, mentally shaking her thoughts away. This mind wandering was happening more and more often and it was confusing her. 

Stiles seemingly missed all of this and just thanked her, “I’ll catch you later.” 

“Have fun. Don’t miss me too much” 

They grinned at each other and Malia watched him until he was out of sight, busying herself with getting back to her research. 

—

It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon, when Malia came into the apartment she fondly referred to as their ‘den’. Stiles was making lunch, or rather heating up the leftover pizza from the fridge. As far as she could sense, he was in a good mood, which was great because she was counting on it. 

She walked in without removing her scarf and coat, “On a scale from 1 to 10, how are you?” They did this often as a ways to gage each others’ moods so no toes were stepped on. 

“I’m actually a solid 8, so today’s a good day.” Stiles smiled brightly at her, as he turned to go into his room. Marathon shows awaited. 

Malia bit her lip smiling, “And on a scale of 1 to 10, how do you feel about giving back to the community?”

Stiles stopped walking, knowing exactly what she was referring to. Malia was oddly a fan of doing manual labor for strangers. Library case, in point. He slowly turned around, “Tell me you didn’t.”

“It’s a great excuse to go outside today,” Malia said cheerily.

“Ma _lia_! If I wanted to go outside, I would just go outside. What I  _want_  to do is binge watch shows, and eat unhealthily.”

“The shows will still be there when we get back. And I’ve already signed us up, so it’s too late to cancel.” Malia lied. The sign was still on the bulletin board she had passed on her way, but she was hoping this would prevent him from backing out. 

When Stiles refused to budge or answer back, Malia tried another tactic. “Okay, I’m off.” She turned to pull on her boots, her smile hiding behind her bent form. As she was about leave, Stiles brushed past her grabbing his coat, and opened the door.

“You owe me a coffee.” Malia grinned following him. Tricking Stiles was getting to be too easy.

—

“Seriously, what’s wrong with you?” Stiles grumbled as he raked the leaves in an old lady’s front yard. “If you enjoy torturing your body by doing chores, that’s your thing.”

Malia turned to him from her side of the yard. “Are you still complaining?” 

Stiles glared at her and viciously raked a patch to show how  _not_ amused he was. Malia sighed, propping her rake against her and putting her hands on her hips. 

“You’re welcome to leave whenever you like.” She got back to work, ignoring him the rest of the time. Stiles acted like such a child sometimes. 

She paused her raking and looked up at the sky, thinking. It’s not like their lives were a busy mess, or that they were social butterflies with better things to do. She had just figured that if she could help people with her super strength, shouldn’t she? Malia sighed, taking in her surroundings quietly. 

They were on a suburban street close to the campus, but far enough that it didn’t feel like there was a school teeming with young adults a couple blocks away. There were tall trees with thick trunks that suggested the quiet neighbourhood was an old one. The air smelt of damp earth, pine, and a faint smell of flowers. She took in a deep breath, filling her lungs with the pleasant smells around her. She loved this time of the year.

—

Stiles wiped his brow of the sweat that was gathering there, and went to get a long paper bag used for garden waste, to dump his three piles of leaves in. His shoulders ached with the strain of using muscles not used to this type of work. 

He glanced at Malia as he passed by, and paused. She was not working. Stiles frowned and was about to comment, when he noticed her eyes were closed, her face upturned towards the sky, a small smile lingering on her lips. 

Stiles changed direction heading toward her instead. “Don’t you just love fall?”  Malia asked without moving from her position. 

Stiles looked at her, a soft smile on his face. Malia could be really cute sometimes, in a childlike way.  She always saw wonders in the simple things. And those simple things just made her the sweet, caring person she was. 

“Yeah okay.” Stiles said softly, as he took in his surroundings for probably the first time since they got there, “This is beautiful. Peaceful even.” 

Malia met his eyes over her shoulder and they just looked at each other. She didn’t gloat or make a joke like he was expecting. He broke their eye contact first, ending whatever moment they were were having. Clearing his throat, he walked away to his originally intended direction.

—

Stiles had just finished dumping all of the bags at the front of the large lawn, when he felt a strong push to his side. Startled, he stumbled and fell into the pile he had just created. Laughter sounded above him and he turned, looking up at Malia.   

“I hate you,” Stiles said not being able to keep a straight face, “I hate you so much.” 

Malia giggled, replaying Stiles’ surprised face in her mind. She was standing close enough to him and Stiles grinned wickedly, seeing an opportunity and yanking her down by her coat. Malia squealed, sinking into the pile of leaves beside him. 

“I deserved that,” Malia sat up looking at him, dry leaves getting tangled in her long hair.

Stiles shook his head grinning. He had needed this. He didn’t even know it, but he had needed this. He lay his head down on the bed of leaves and they both became quiet, enjoying looking at the different, vibrant colours around them. 

He saw some movement at the corner of his peripheral vision and nudged Malia. “Lia get up. Edith looks to have brought us some hot chocolate.”

“Why do I have to get up?”

“Because,” Stiles said closing his eyes, “reasons I don’t care to explain right now.” Malia made a face but stood anyway, throwing a bunch of leaves on top of him in retaliation. 

She walked up to the old lady waiting patiently by the door, “Sorry, about that, Edith,” Malia grinned, pointing at Stiles laying in the pile. “It was a so tempting, I just had to.” 

Edith waved her apology aside, “Here you go Dear,” she handed Malia two steaming cups of hot chocolate, with a generous amount of mini marshmallows in each. “You and your boyfriend worked so hard, I made this as thanks.”

Malia’s already weather flushed cheeks turned a shade pinker, “Oh, he’s not—” but the old lady was already walking away. Malia shrugged waving Stiles over as she sat down on the steps. 

“Oooo hot chocolate,” Stiles rubbed his hands, making grabby motion at her to give his mug over. He sat down and blew over the hot liquid, taking small sips. “This is delicious.” 

“Mhmm,” Malia wrapped her hands around her mug, face hovering just above it, so the steam would hit her face, with its fleeting warmth.

“How many more houses?” Stiles asked after a few moments of quiet.

“We have two more houses after this one.” Malia replied, scenting him a little. Wait a minute.  She turned cocking her head to the side towards him, “You’re starting to  _like_  doing this aren’t you?” 

Stiles hid a smile. Malia just knew him too well. “And what? You were just complaining that entire time to amuse me?”

Stiles scratched his head, “It’s not like that. I don’t really do stuff like this,” he gestured to their now leaf free lawn. “Go out of my way to help strangers. That’s always been Scott’s thing you know? You remind me of him so much sometimes.” He looked at her, “But it’s good, you know? Trying something new once in a while.”

Malia smiled warmly at him, “Your welcome.”

“That’s not—”

“Shut up, Stiles.”

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hullo my Lovelies! Did you catch it? No? Nevermind then :) Sorry it took me so long to update. I was raking my own backyard the other day, when this idea came to me. I can’t ever picture Stiles voluntarily doing manual labour so I thought it would be funny to have Malia make him do stuff he would usually avoid doing. Let me know if you liked it. All mistakes are my own. Cheers :)


	6. And Space is Undefined

—

“What about this one?”

“If you are entering some weird competition with my dad on who likes plaid more, you’re winning.” Malia said without looking up. “And that’s saying something.” She frowned at her laptop. It was frozen. Again. She jabbed some buttons in frustration. 

“I’m being serious, Lia.”

“So am I,” Malia finally looked up. She eyed the outfit Stiles had on. “You need to give her the impression that you cared enough to try.” 

“I am trying.” Stiles protested.

Malia ignored his comment, walking past him. Maneuvering through Stiles’ messy room, she got to his closet and checked her options. 

As she looked, Malia briefly wondered if Stiles would still have gotten a date with Carol, had she gone to the movies with them the other day. 

She shook the thought away. Stiles was her friend. Friend. She could be happy for him. She  _should_  be happy for him.

She came back to the living room where Stiles was perched on the arm of the couch waiting, and threw the two clothing items into his lap.

Stiles looked down and scoffed, “Are you serious?” 

“Just try them on.” Malia crossed her arms on her chest, knowing her stubbornness would win against Stiles’. 

Stiles huffed, and got up to change. He came out a couple minutes later, wearing an olive green v neck sweater and a lightly striped white collared shirt inside. 

“I look like I just stepped out of a men’s catalogue” he said. 

Malia looked him up and down, pleased at her selection—green suited Stiles—until she registered his tone, “Are you actually complaining about looking good?” she asked incredulously. Only Stiles. 

“It doesn’t feel right.”

“It’s November weather appropriate.”

“It’s not my style”

“I found it in  _your_  closet, Stiles.” she reminded him dryly.

“This is just not me,” Stiles tried finally.

“Wearing something you don’t usually wear, doesn’t change who you are. It just reflects a different side of you.” Malia reasoned.

“And what exactly is this saying?” Stiles asked gesturing to himself.

Malia studied him thoughtfully for a second, a teasing glint in her eye, “It says you’re sophisticated, and…pretty.” 

“Oh. Thanks, yeah.” Stiles feigned offence, “Like that’s what I want to be known for.”

“Why not?” Malia grinned, “That’s all girls need to impress a guy with these days.”

“You should know right? With your long list of guys wanting to date you?” Stiles quipped.

“Exactly.” Malia replied straight faced. Stiles looked at her, wondering if she was being serious. If so, who was she dating?

Malia noticed Stiles emitting a curious scent she couldn’t identify. “I’m joking,” she said finally. “I think you would know if I was dating someone.” 

Stiles tried not to show his relief, but confused at his reaction. Why should he care if she went on a date with someone? Its not like she needed his approval or anything. He came out of his thoughts when he heard her speak again.

“Anyways, hope it goes well.” 

Stiles frowned, looking like a confused puppy, “Hope what goes well?”

“The date.” 

Stiles stood up quickly brushing past her, hoping his embarrassment hadn’t showed on his face. Had he actually forgotten he was going on a date? “Yeah, me too. See ya.” he said grabbing his jacket and rushing out.  

—

When Stiles got back that night, he was quiet as he took off his shoes, walking into their small kitchen. Malia heard the distinct sounds of dishes she had left on the drying rack, being put away. 

Sitting on the couch,  Malia looked up curiously. It wasn’t unlike Stiles to do chores, but he didn’t look to be in a happy mood, and yet he didn’t smell of any negative energies either. Something was up. 

“So how was it?” She called out as he came into view. 

“The food was great.”

Malia bookmarked her page, putting it down. “Good to know, but I meant the date, Stiles.”

“I know what you meant,” Stiles gave her a small smile and went to his room, closing the door. 

Malia was surprised. She had thought Stiles was an open book with her, but she supposed there were some things even he had reservations in sharing with her. 

She heard him talking behind the closed door, and guessed he was on the phone with someone. She snuggled deeper into the sofa and absorbed herself back into her book, thoughts of Stiles temporarily out of her mind. 

—

“Its like, I was there but I wasn’t there you know?”

“No I don’t Stiles. Why don’t you start from th—”

“And we even kissed at the end but it was weird.”

There was a pause on the other side, “Weird how?”

“I-I don’t know. It’s like I had just imagined our strong connection from before. We’ve hung out a couple times but, today it was like- I don’t know. It felt flat, non existent.”

Scott sighed on the other side of the line. “Okay, just so we are clear. You were on a date today, with a girl that lives in your building, that you have enjoyed hanging out with a couple times.”

“Yeah”

“And today was your first date, but it felt weird?” Scott asked. Stiles made an agreeing sound. “Maybe give it another try?” Scott suggested. “You can’t know all about one person after just one date.”

Stiles sighed, “Okay, I guess…”

Scott snorted, “Don’t sound like I’m forcing you to. Honestly, I’m surprised you called at all. You must really torn over this girl, if your asking  _me_  for advice.”

“Hey hey dude. It's not like that. I just needed to talk to someone okay?”

“Sure” Scott’s teasing voice dragged the word out.

“Ugh! Not you too!” Stiles said without thinking. 

“Too? Oooh who else teases you like this?” Scott jumped on Stiles’ slip in a flash. 

“No one.” Stiles said too quickly. He mentally kicked himself. He had done a great job in not mentioning Malia to his friends back home. Somehow he imagined them over analyzing his relationship with her, and make it into something it wasn’t. 

“Uh huh. I believe you.” Scott said, his tone suggesting anything but.

Stiles rolled his eyes. Knowing Scott, he would sneak it into any of their conversations, hoping to trip Stiles up again. 

In the past that technique had a high success rate, so might as well get it over with. He was bound to mention her in passing anyways. 

“Her name is Malia. She also lives in my building.”

“And she _also_ happens to be the one you went on a date with?” Scott asked.

“No, no. Not like that. She’s my…” Stiles was about to say ‘roommate’ when he caught himself, “friend.” He rubbed his face with his palm; he sounded shifty even to his own ears. 

“Friend?”

“Friend.” Stiles said firmly. “Wait, why are we talking about Malia?”

“I’m just curious about your new friend Stiles. You don’t talk about anyone from college, but that’s great that you’re meeting people.” Scott sounded happy. “So, tell me about your classes.” 

Stiles breathed an inner sigh of relief at the change of subject. He doubted this was the last mention of Malia, but it seemed like Scott was not pushing on his curiosity, for which he was grateful. He continued his chat with his best friend with a lot more ease after.

—

Malia and Andy were sitting on her bed, with Malia on her laptop and Andy was painting her nails. The phone buzzed with a text beside Malia. She picked it up to check the name and then dropped it back on the bed without answering it. “He keeps texting me.”

“What else is new? I swear I’ve never seen someone be so protective over friends.” Andy said, rolling her eyes.

“Not Stiles. I meant Todd. He keeps asking me to ‘hang out’ ” 

“So why don’t you?”

“No thank you.”

“Oh.” Andy shifted carefully to a seated position, “Is there someone else then?” Malia shook her head at the question. 

Pursing her lips, she looked at her friend and pushed on with her thought, “Have you considered the possibility that the reason you are unwilling to give Todd a chance is because you’re hung up on someone else?”

Malia frowned, trying to remember what Stiles had told her about term ‘hung up’. “I don’t know what you mean.” Malia said finally, referring to the phrase.

Andy had not been subject to her insistent questioning, except for that one time. So naturally she mistook Malia’s statement as a ways to dodge the issue.

“Stiles doesn’t see you like that.” She said directly.

“What has this got to do with Stiles?” Malia said out loud, a second before she remembered the meaning of the term. “Wait, no. I do  _not_ like Stiles!” Malia protested vehemently. 

“Honey, hate to break it to you, but you’re jealousy is transparent as fuck. Stiles may not see it, but you’re an open book, babe.”

Malia wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball and disappear in that moment. Instead, she looked Andy squarely in the eyes, “You’re wrong.”

“If that’s the case, then you should go on this date with Todd. What’s really stopping you? I mean what’s the worst that could happen?”

“I don’t want to mess up what we have.” Malia saw Andy’s expression, “Todd. I mean with Todd.”

“Just the fact that you have to clear that for me, is a statement in itself.” Andy gave her a meaningful look and went back to painting her nails again. 

Malia was silent, her thoughts muddled between Stiles and Todd. She didn’t really know why she refused to give the latter a chance. They had gotten to know each other little by little, and they still exchanged notes when the other had been away. Those were all small things, including short and meaningless text conversations.

Malia wasn’t a fan of texting, and most of the time she was trying to decode short forms Todd sent her. She couldn’t very well tell him reading about complex scientific terms was easier than reading his texts now could she? 

 So the internet had been her new friend these past couple days. It was definitely a better option than bugging Stiles about it.  Though if she was frank with herself, Malia knew the real reason she asked Stiles about word meanings nowadays, was to get his hilarious reaction to it. 

The corners of Malia’s lips turned into a private smile at the memory of one of Todd’s text to her, which read ‘imaho’ at the end. 

Malia had asked Stiles the meaning of that and promptly received such a baffled expression from him, he hadn’t even bothered to answer, and just walked out of the room. But that may have more to do with her saying it as, ‘I’m-a-hoe’, than the question itself. 

She was brought back to the present when she heard Andy speak. 

“Here’s the deal. The day you admit to liking Stiles, take me to that dessert place I’ve been wanting to go to. You don’t have to say anything, and I won’t say ‘I told you so’ like you know I’m dying to.”

Malia rolled her eyes, so Andy took that as a yes.

“In the meantime, think about giving this sweet boy a chance.” Andy tapped Malia’s phone, when it vibrated again.

Malia sighed softly, wanting her life to go back to being uncomplicated. 

—

“We need new furniture!” Stiles announced from her bedroom door.

Malia hadn’t seen Stiles all week, so this sudden appearance confused her. It was a Monday after all. Not to mention, this had come out of nowhere. She sat up on her bed, rubbing her eyes tiredly “What’s up?”

“Nothing! I just think,” Stiles waved his hand around gesturing towards the living room, “we need to redecorate or make the place look more homey. Don’t you feel like it’s time for a change? It’s almost December. Maybe we need some lights to brighten up the place.”

“I guess I forgot to mention that I’m allergic to Christmas,” Malia said. She looked up to see an annoyed look being directed at her. She smiled at his reaction. “I’m just warning you. If you even try playing Christmas music anytime but a week before the actual date, I  _will_  kill you.”

“You suck the fun out of life, Lia.” Stiles said, taking a seat on her bed. 

Malia stuck her tongue out playfully at him. She sobered up a second later, “Okay, what’s really going on?”

Stiles ran a hand through his hair, making it stick up, “I dunno. I’m just restless. I can’t explain it, I-I just need to-” Stiles made a circling motion with his hands, “keep moving, or- Because it just feels like I’m—” He stopped, his demeanour changing drastically.

Malia very quickly found out that she didn’t like that lost look on Stiles’ face, and she wanted it gone. Now. 

“Okay. Up.” Malia got up on her knees, pulling at Stiles’ arm. “We’re going out.”

Stiles shook his head, settling his hands in his lap. “It’s fine, Malia. Really. You don’t have to—”

Malia pushed at Stiles’ right shoulder, so he was facing her, and sat on her heels. “I think you keep forgetting who has to live with your mopey face.” She tried for a little humour, but Stiles was not biting. 

Malia huffed, sitting in front of him, “Look, I’m willing to go all festive, with the lights and candy for  _you_. Don’t make me beg.”

The tiniest hint of a smile, appeared on Stiles’ face, but Malia counted it as a win. Stiles allowed her to pull him up off the bed this time.

Malia was just relieved to see the boy she knew coming back to her. She moved her stuff around on her desk until she found a pad and a pen, which she handed to Stiles.

“Write down what you want, and we’ll split the cost between us. But be reasonable with your choices.” Malia headed out of her room, followed by Stiles.

Stiles pursed his lips, the smile growing on his face by the second. As they got ready to leave, he asked “Can we buy a real tree?”

“No.”

“How about a fake one?”

“No.”

“They have silver ones now, with—”

“Stiles, I’m going to strangle you any second now.”

Stiles snorted with laughter. Teasing Malia had always been one of his favourite pass times. Malia turned around, a smile barely contained on her face, “I severely dislike you,” she said. 

Stiles grinned nodding, “Yeah, well I severely dislike you too,” he held the door open for her, “but not right this minute, since you’re about to let me buy us a small, fake Christmas tree.”

Malia just knew, as she looked into Stiles’ sparkling eyes, that he was about to get exactly what he wanted. And she was surprised to find that strangely, she was okay with it.

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hullo Lovelies! I know there is a lack of Stalia in this chapter, but we have to move the story along, so outsider perspective was necessary. I wanted to bring the playfulness down a couple notches, so hopefully, that was conveyed. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I loved writing it. All mistakes are my own :)


	7. In the Moondust

—  

“Stiles, No! It’s cold outside.”

“It was cold in November, and we still went outside. Voluntarily might I add.”

“Yes, but that was different. It was also relatively warm. This is not relatively warm.” Malia growled. “And its not even like we’re helping people.”

Stiles grinned, “No, but you promised that you wouldn’t fight me on my idea on what I want for Christmas. And since we’re not doing gifts—” 

“We could do gifts! Gifts are exchanged indoors. I can do gifts,” Malia pleaded, tugging her hands out of Stiles’ grasp. 

His smile didn’t once falter. It was almost like the more she resisted the more determined he got to get her out of the house, which proved to be really annoying.  

“Malia,” Stiles said patiently, which made her even more suspicious. Patience was not in Stiles’ vocabulary. He gently took her hand in his again. “It’ll be fun, I promise.” 

Malia allowed Stiles to drag her outside, looking back forlornly at the warmth of their den as he locked the door.

— 

It was not fun, she decided as soon as they stepped out of the building. Malia was hit by the freezing cold, and the shock of it caused her to stumble in between the crossfires of a snowball fight.

Stiles laughing, grabbed her and pushed her behind a wall of snow a couple of people were building as a fort of protection. 

Malia turned to Stiles yelling over the wind to be heard, “What’s going on?” 

Stiles scooted closer to her. “A snowball fight. Here,” he took his gloved hands, and cupping hers, gathered snow into a ball. “Now you throw this at people.” 

Malia looked down at the snow puff in her hands. Back home, it didn’t snow, so this was the first time she was seeing it.

It had snowed so much over one night, and she had woken up to everything covered in white. The college had closed down, so all the students were out and about and if they were smart, staying indoors.

As she weighed the thing in one hand, she concluded that Malia Tate, was not smart. Malia reached over and smacked the snowball on top of Stiles’ head. 

“Like that?” she asked, not really seeing the magic about sitting on a cold ground, cheeks and nose frozen, while dumping snow on people.

But Stiles’ wide grin promised trouble, and despite her quick reflexes, Malia got smacked right in the face with a well aimed snowball.   

Malia’s jaw dropped open in shock at the chilling cold sliding down her face, but before she could say anything, another snowball landed on her.

Stiles laughed at her, but as soon as he saw Malia’s game face on, he took off heading away from the already established war zone they had seeked shelter from a minute ago. Malia was right on his heels, eager to get back at him.

— 

Stiles was right about her enjoying the outing. Not that she would admit it aloud to him. Even so, it must have been a hard thing to hide given he was already sending amused glances her way, while he waited by the counter to pay for their drinks.  

They had spent a good time out playing like puppies in the snow, with all the wonder and excitement included. Malia used her coyote reflexes to avoid Stiles’ attacks and maybe that was cheating, but Stiles equally used his stealthiness to creep up on her, when she lost sight of him.  

Once or twice, they accidentally hit someone else, but then that person would join them in their fun. All in all it was a blast and with the amount of running they were doing, Malia forgot to be cold. 

But now she could feel the snow had soaked through her puffy jacket, leaving her shivering once more. She rubbed her arms to warm them up, despite the coffee shop feeling like an oven. 

When Stiles sat down placing her drink in front of her, she took a sip grumbling, “Why couldn’t we have just done gifts?” 

Stiles looked down at his drink thinking. He had barely seen Malia these past days. And not just because of college, but she now had a study group she met with every once in a while, and they always hung out after. 

Stiles though, already had trouble making friends and trying to establish a friend circle so late in the game seemed pointless. It was hard to be able to relate experiences with other people, especially when they were blissfully unaware of the existence of kanimas, wendigos and all the other supernatural creatures out there.

Oddly, this hadn’t extended over to Malia. He suspected it was because of their awkward beginnings, and partially because Malia herself was an oddball. Life was far from mundane with Malia as a roommate, and he had missed her presence in his day to day. 

He had been feeling like they were slowly drifting apart because of the circles they ran in now, and he had just wanted them to spend some time together. He didn’t even know if their friendship would survive the year and come next September, who says Malia would want him as a roommate again? 

Stiles couldn’t say any of these things aloud, so he opted for a half truth. “This seemed like a good idea at the time. And it was fun. Creating a memory that you can keep forever, rather than getting you a present that you might not.” 

Malia lifted up her head, thinking how sweet Stiles could be at times like these. Looking at Stiles now, she saw him smile, but his eyes didn’t have their usual teasing glint to them. There was something he wasn’t saying, and she just couldn’t put her finger on it. 

She found the lesser time she spent with Stiles, the harder it had become in reading him. 

“Or you could call it payback? For all the enlightening experiences I’ve forced on you?” she suggested. 

Stiles shook his head, still treating the subject seriously while she was joking.  

“I have never seen snow either,” he confessed to his cup, missing Malia’s surprised expression. “I wanted to experience what it would be like to play in the snow, and waking up to a ‘winter wonderland’ just waiting for me, but…” Stiles lifted his head up to her, “I wanted to share this first with you.”

“How were you so sure I wouldn’t ruin it for you?”Malia asked curious. 

“You? Ruin something? Impossible.” 

—

Malia was at a Christmas party, when she bumped into one of Stiles’ ex-dates. “Oh hi,” Carol seemed surprised to see her. She looked around,“Is Stiles here too?” 

“We came together.” Malia smiled. 

“You’re here, together together?” 

“Yeah.” Malia nodded, not seeing the need to repeat the simple statement. She looked around,“Do you want me to find him? He’s around here somewhere.” Malia looked across the hall and turned back, to see that Carol had left already. 

Puzzled, she wove through the crowd, trying to catch Stiles’ scent. Instead her senses were overpowered with a mixture of smoked wood, cinnamon, and apple cider. She really hated Christmas sometimes. The different smells often took over everything else, making enhanced senses feel more like a curse.  

 Malia blinked, feeling lost in the crowd.  She stumbled back to avoid bumping into someone in front of her, when she felt a hand sliding around her waist, holding and pulling her out into a less crowded area. 

“You okay there?” Stiles smiled at her, guessing her answer before she could say it.

“I hate crowds.”

“I know.” 

Malia had never liked crowds. Stiles shook his head at her smiling. Of all the things to be terrified at, this was it. He knew she had been okay coming as long as he would stay close. They only knew a couple people here, and even then the interactions had been polite at best.

“Remind me why we came again?”

“We got caught unawares in the elevator and got roped into promising our neighbours we’d attend the party?”

“I hate ambushes.”

“I’ll add it to the list,” Stiles promised, amused. Watching ever optimistic Malia be moody about something was always fun. 

They turned around to the sound of a couple stumble into the empty hallway they were in, giggling loudly. They stopped beside Stiles and Malia. The girl hiccuped,“Looks like this one’s occupied! Let’s go find us another one.” She pulled the guy she was with, in another direction.

Stiles registering the words, looked up and swallowed loudly. Malia seeing his reaction, turned her head up to look as well.  

They were standing under a mistletoe. Malia’s mouth went dry. It hadn’t even occurred to her that by having Stiles beside her all the time, there was a greater chance of them standing under a mistletoe together, than not. The party was starting to resemble a land mine more than anything else now.

Stiles watched as Malia looked around frantically like she was looking for an escape.“It’s fine. We don’t—” he shrugged not seeing it as a big deal,“No one saw us so there no pressure to carry out…”Stiles trailed off as he realized that Malia wasn’t even paying attention.

“Malia?” Stiles touched her arm to get her attention.

Upon contact Malia immediately turned to him, blurting,“No!” They stood, looking at each other. Stiles licked his lips, frowning.

“Yeah,” he said finally, stepping away from the doorway they were standing under. He blinked a couple times, trying to understand why Malia had burst out like that. Coming up blank, he turned to her, “Um..What?”

Malia shook her head, “Sorry. I wasn’t—I was talking to myself.” 

At Stiles’ questioning look, she took a breath bracing herself for any teasing on Stiles’ part at her next words,“I’ve never kissed anyone before.” 

Stiles’ mouth dropped open. Anyone looking at Malia, would never think she would be one of those girls who had never experienced a first kiss.  “Wow.”

Malia wanted to laugh at Stiles, but instead she kept going, “This has nothing to do with not wanting to kiss you,” she assured him, “It’s the nature of the situation.”

“You don’t want it to be forced,” Stiles said understanding, “You want to kiss someone on your own terms.” He looked at Malia for confirmation. She nodded.“Makes sense.”  

They leaned against a wall side by side,listening to the sounds of Christmas music and chatter for a while.  

Stiles broke their silence by saying,“I can’t believe you’ve never kissed anyone!” Malia’s hand flew to his side sharply.“Ow.” Stiles rubbed the spot where she’d hit him as he turned to her, adding,“You had to have seen that coming.”

Malia grinned,“I just hoped you would be better than that.”

Stiles pointed to himself cocking an eyebrow,“Me?” They grinned at one another. Stiles pushed himself off the wall after a couple minutes.“Let’s go see what food selections we have shall we?” 

Malia gave a contemplating look, to which he added, “I’ll be sure to push you away anytime I find you remotely close to a mistletoe.”

“Deal.” Malia said instantly, dragging him back to the party.  

—

New Year’s Eve found Stiles in the middle of a crowded room, knowing only two people, and neither of them were in sight. Malia had invited him to come celebrate New Years with her new friends. 

Stiles had found this amusing, since only a little while ago, it had been him inviting her to places. He was happy for her though, and her friends seemed like a genuine group of nice people.

Stiles made his way to a corner not blaring music, and started dialling his friend Luke first.Almost like magic, the guy showed up right next to him and Stiles quickly pocketed his phone.

“Dude, this party blows” Luke muttered, voicing Stiles’ thoughts. “Marek said he scored some extra tickets to a club downtown. He said we’re in, if we can come before 11:30. You wanna?” 

Stiles shrugged, “Sure. Hang on a sec. I’ll let Malia know.” Stiles made his way through the crowd to where he had seen Malia last.

He caught sight of a midnight blue shimmering top, and made his way closer. When he was a couple feet away, what he saw made Stiles stop.  

Malia was dancing closely with a guy he did not recognize. She looked like she was having a lot of fun. Stiles, not wanting to interrupt decided to text her instead, when he saw the two moving closer to one another. 

Malia had wrapped her arms around the guy’s shoulders and leaned in to kiss him. A guy, who may or may not be aware that this was her first kiss or even one of her first kisses.

Stiles stood frozen in one spot feeling heavy all of a sudden, like a sudden weight holding him down. Something dropped to the pit of his stomach and he swallowed as  he realized it was _jealousy._ Not because he longed to experience that level of intimacy, no. It was watching Malia be with someone else, be that intimate with someone else, that had him incapable of moving away. 

He felt a squeezing in his chest. Like an irrational fear of losing something he cared about growing, and recognizing it for what it really was. Oh God. This can't be happening. 

Realization finally broke him out of his stupor, and that’s when he noticed he had company. Luke was looking back and forth between Stiles and Malia. “Dude.”

The manner in which it was said, encompassed this entire situation beautifully. The word that held such obvious disbelief that Stiles had not known he had liked Malia this entire time. He knew he tended to be a bit possessive over her, but he didn’t think that meant— 

Stiles closed his eyes, swallowing with difficulty. No. He needed to get these feelings out of his system. He could not have feelings for Malia. He didn’t want things to change more than they already had. This was only going to end badly for them if he continued thinking this way about her. 

Right then, he decided he would bury this storm of emotions in some deep corner, and forget about it. He was not going to be responsible for ruining something good and in the end, she was his only real friend here. He couldn’t mess this up. He couldn’t afford to.

With that thought firmly in his mind, Stiles followed Luke quietly out of the party. 

And if there was rationale behind him getting wasted that night, it was no one’s business but his own. 

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hullo Lovelies…Why am I incapable of writing a purely happy fic? We finally have Stiles’ feelings in the mix though. This chapter was hard to write, having to go through all the intense emotions myself. Stiles and I both need a hug right about now. All mistakes are my own.


	8. Burning a Hole Right Through

Stiles was going over his study notes on the dining table, when Andy came bustling in. 

“Oh my God, Malia I’m so mad! Jason’s planning on hosting parties almost every day of Spring Break! Do you know what its like being in that house in that mess? He’s driving me NUTS!! I have so much work to do, papers, tests you name it, I have it!” Andy ranted.

“Okay, calm down. Why don’t you just go to the library?”

“I can’t concentrate in the library. I’ll just end up going on the internet. God he’s driving me mad, I swear.” Andy gritted her teeth frustrated.

“You can stay here for a bit? Just until you finish some of that workload? And I’ll have someone to study with too, so it works out.” Malia smiled at her friend.

“Could I? That would be amazing!! Thank you, thank you, thank you.” Andy hugged Malia happily and immediately started making plans to what she could bring over. 

When she had left the apartment a couple hours later, Stiles got up from the table and approached the couch that Malia was occupying.

“Don’t you think we should have discussed that, before you invited Andy to stay with us?” He said, frowning down at her.

“Why? You’re hardly around these days. The apartment has been feeling kind of empty, so what difference would it make?” Malia jabbed at him. She shrugged continuing, “Besides, she’s my friend and she need help, so I’m helping.”

“I _still_ live here Malia!” Stiles said tightly. 

“Of course you do.” Malia said matter of factly. “It’s just for a couple days. No big deal.” Malia said and turned back to her work. 

Stiles stood there a couple more seconds, not liking this flippant tone she was using on him. He clenched and unclenched his fists before grabbing his coat and heading outside for some cool air. 

It was a frigid day in late February, but it suited his mood perfectly. It was snowing again, but pleasant with the absence of wind. Stiles walked down the shovelled pathway, deep in thought.

Being around Malia after New Year’s had been easy only because he had been avoiding being in the same room as her for long periods of time. It was getting easier the less time they spent together, but this had created a rift between them, as Malia had so clearly noticed.

Stiles hadn’t been able to help it earlier. He kept having that image of her kissing someone else run through his head over and over again, and no matter what he couldn’t shake it. So he had shaken her off instead. 

It did make him wonder though, if friends actually were as close as they were, or if this was a byproduct of having more than friendly feelings toward his roommate. 

Stiles took out the piece of paper from his pocket that he had folded and refolded over and over again. It had such deep creases by now, that the words in between the lines were barely legible. He pressed it flat the best he could and looked at it. 

The rent was going up. The question pressing his mind since before Christmas was, if he moved out, would Malia too? 

—

That night Malia was getting the food ready when she passed Stiles on the couch staring at his textbook. She could tell he wasn’t actually absorbing information based on the fact that he had yet to turn the page in three minutes. 

“Stiles, can you help me with the plates?” Malia asked him. Stiles put the book down, looking slightly relieved to be doing something else, and followed Malia into the kitchen. 

They stood side by side, Stiles pulling the plates from a high shelf and placing them close to Malia so she could plate each of them the beef stir-fry she had made. This is why he preferred doing the dishes. His speciality was mac and cheese, and there was only so much of that you could make, before getting sick of it.

“You were right.” Malia said softly so that Andy wouldn’t hear. “I should have talked it over with you before I invited her.” 

Stiles nodded in acknowledgement of the apology, taking the empty pan to the sink. As he turned the tap on briefly, he didn’t hear any feet shuffling away and guessed this conversation was not over. He couldn’t say he was surprised. He turned around leaning against the counter, and waited for her to speak. 

“Why have you been avoiding me Stiles?”

Stiles shrugged, folding his arms across his chest. “We’ve both been busy.” He answered just as softly. The apartment wasn’t big, and voices carried. 

“No. I mean yes we have. But you are more normal with Andy than you are with me. Is there something I did?” 

Stiles stared at the floor. He didn’t know what to tell her. He had moved past the feeling thing. Past tense. She had a boyfriend, or something like one. 

Malia and her new guy had spent Valentine’s Day together so it had to mean something right? Besides now the avoidance had become more about avoiding this very discussion. It sounded stupid even in his own head.

Stiles tried coming up with an explanation. He thought back to the rent letter, wondering if he should mention it now. “No,” Stiles answered looking up, but past Malia. “I’ve just been distracted…” 

Malia didn’t know what to think. Sometimes being a werecoyote wasn’t any good when it came to Stiles. He was being honest, but she knew it had to be more than ‘being distracted’. 

Stiles went to walk past Malia, when she stopped him with a hand on his wrist. 

Whatever it was that was bothering him, they could deal with later. They stood shoulder to shoulder, Stiles looking at her questioningly. “I would like it if you ate with us.” 

Stiles sighed inwardly. Pissed off or not, he could never say no to that earnest face. 

—

“Okay so tell me about your date. I feel like its been so long since we’ve chatted!” Andy said to Malia. 

They were all sitting on the ugly sofa set both Stiles and Malia hated, but hadn’t bothered to get rid of. 

Stiles not for the first time wished Andy had more of an intellectual mind, rather than the gossip queen she was. He really didn’t want to be a part of the girl talk, but Malia had asked him to eat with them and if he got up at the mention of the date, it might look suspicious.So he suppressed an eye roll and concentrated on eating as fast as possible so he could use that as his excuse to leave. 

“It was nice.” Malia said shortly.

“That’s it? That’s all you have for me? I want details Malia, come on!”

Malia looked down and played with the sleeves of her sweater. Stiles had only seen that habit of hers, when something was bugging her.“He seems to want more.”

Stiles frowned, “What do you mean?” he asked before he could stop himself. What had happened to not getting involved? But he had asked, so might as well roll with it.

Malia looked uncomfortable with both Stiles and Andy’s attention on her but she continued, still unsure on how to say this. “Apparently this isn’t enough. He wants more. That’s what he said.”

“More like relationship more or,” Andy glancing at Stiles briefly before continuing, “physical more?”

“Both, I think.” They all fell silent at that, and the only sounds that could be heard were the spoons scraping the plates. 

Malia finally turned to Stiles, who was sitting beside her, “What should I do?”

Stiles sank into the cushions. So, apparently nothing had changed between them. Even when Malia had girls in the room, she still wanted his opinion. Maybe that was the kind of friendship they had. A good solid support system for each other.

“I think you should do whatever you are comfortable doing.” He shifted to his side, his elbow resting against the sofa back so he was facing her. “If this guy is pressuring you, then maybe this isn’t…” Stiles trailed off looking at her intently. 

Malia saw that flash of concern cross his face and smiled despite herself. Stiles had a very protective streak when it came to her. She was sort of glad that her ‘boy toy’ as her friends loved calling him, hadn’t met Stiles.And she kind of never the two to meet. Odd wasn’t it?

Andy was looking between the two, eyes narrowed. If she didn’t know better… “How bout you Stiles?” she said, breaking the silence. Both Stiles and Malia looked slightly startled, like they had forgotten she was there. “How’s the girl scene going?”

Andy immediately noticed Malia withdrawing from his side, albeit it was more of a subconscious move. If Stiles noticed, he didn’t show it. 

Stiles shrugged, “It’s non-existent actually.”

“What? Really?” Malia asked surprised. This was news to her. Stiles for all his insecurities, never seemed to have trouble landing dates. It was almost like they were on the same wave-length on that thought.

“I don’t know why it never progresses past the first date.” Stiles ran his hand through his hair, making it even messier. “And it’s not even like they aren’t interested in seeing where it goes, sometimes it’s me. A lot of the time it’s me actually,” he admitted. 

This was the first time he had voiced it since discussing it with Scott. 

“You’re too open, Stiles.” Malia said. She remembered in the beginning, how Stiles used to come home from parties drunk. 

By that time, he had reached his talkative phase and Malia had heard enough details about pretty girls Stiles was attracted to, to know she would never be one of them.

It seemed like Stiles forgot his long soliloquies by morning and other than her teases here and there, they never broached the subject.

“When you meet someone you like, you put all of your energy into getting to know them. You end up putting them up on some pedestal. And then finally when you go on the first date, you’re disappointed. They can never meet that unrealistic image you have created of them in your mind. You’re expectations are too high. That’s why it never works.”

Stiles straightened up with every word Malia spoke. This didn’t sound like some friendly observation she had just thought up now. It sounded like she had been thinking of this for a while and had blurted it out. 

Stiles didn’t know what to make of Malia’s blunt delivery, but it was like she had known this entire time and had just watched him fail over and over again. 

Stiles pursed his lips and got up. There were a million things running through his mind, but he couldn’t voice any of them. 

He would just end up losing his temper and say something he would regret. So he picked up his empty plate and walked away without a word. 

Malia sensed she had upset him, but all she did was tell him the truth.She felt the couch dip as Andy sat beside her. “What the hell was that?” Andy whispered.

“He needed to hear it.”

“Maybe. But not like that, Malia.” Andy looked at her shocked. “What you did was…a little mean. That’s saying a lot coming from _me_.”

“I did him a favour.”

“Then you went about it the wrong way.” Andy patted Malia’s knee and they finished eating their dinner in silence.

—

Stiles was gone the next morning. Malia found a note saying he was visiting his dad and would be back on Sunday. Considering it was a Wednesday, it was going to be a long four days without him. 

The thing was, she couldn’t even blame this outburst on being too close to the full moon. Why couldn’t she have kept her thoughts to herself longer? They were finally getting back to their old rhythm and then this had to happen. 

She wondered why when she usually had Stiles’ best interest at heart, she had refrained from mentioning her observations earlier?

It was back when she had still liked him, so was that it? She hadn’t told him because she didn’t want him to be aware of it, so he could change for the better? 

And what was stopping her from progressing her relationship with her guy? Andy’s words from a couple months back, floated to her.

_“Have you considered the possibility that the reason you are unwilling to give Todd a chance is because you’re hung up on someone else?”_

No. She couldn’t possibly… But the more she thought about it, the more she was convinced this was it. 

Malia finally telling Stiles her views had absolutely nothing to do with him being blind to it, and had everything to do with her frustration that she had never been on his radar. 

All those nights of listening to him going on and on, first about Lydia and then moving onto any girl he was interested in, she had chosen now to explode on him. 

Malia lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling. In her peripheral vision, she saw Andy leaning against the doorway. “Why?” she said aloud, sitting up to look at her friend, “Why do I still like him?” 

Andy sighed and made her way to the bed, “Who knows? He’s not even that hot.”

Malia rolled her eyes and gave her a look. “Okay, okay…” Andy smiled amused. “What are you going to do now? I mean, you can’t keep dating a guy you don’t really like.”

“I like him,” Malia said quietly.

Andy gave her a small smile, “Just not the way you like Stiles.”

—

Stiles came back on the Friday. It was by complete fluke that Malia was home. Andy had invited her to go drinking with her and some of the girls, but she had declined. 

When Stiles walked through the front door, Malia stopped what she was doing, looking surprised to see him this early. Stiles dropped his bag by the door and joined her at the table. 

They sat from across each other, waiting for the other to speak. 

“You’re home early,” Malia said after they had been playing eye tag for a while.

“My dad told me he couldn’t stand being around my moping anymore and to get my shit together,” Stiles said with a slight smile, “so that’s what I’m doing.”

He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper, sliding it towards Malia. 

Malia unfolded it, her eyes skimming across the words. “I can’t pay, for next year.” Stiles said as she read. “I talked finances with my dad, and it’s not something we can afford right now.” He looked up at her, watching for her reaction.

“This is what has been bugging you,” she said slowly, shaking the piece of paper in her hand. Stiles nodded. “Why didn’t you just tell me?”

Stiles shrugged, “Never seemed like a good time to bring it up. And I didn’t think you wanted to move.”

“I don’t.” Malia said. 

Stiles bit his lip expecting this. Refraining from mentioning this to Malia earlier had been his way to prolong hearing it from her. 

“But… I don’t want to look for a new roommate either,” Malia glanced at Stiles, watching as the corners of his lips turn up a little. “So, we’ll see I guess.” 

“We’ll see,” Stiles echoed her, tapping the table absently. 

“I’m sorry about what I said,” Malia burst out a second later.

“It’s alright. Everything you said was true. It was just too much to hear at the time. And considering how long I’ve been thinking about it, said like that… Better late than never right?” Stiles asked.

Malia smiled nodding, “Look at us. Actually talking it out for once.”

“It feels good.” Stiles smiled back. He didn’t know why they hadn’t done this sooner. It was nice to lay everything on the table, and sort it out together. 

Stiles sensed their relationship had grown stronger because of this bump though. He was happy they were back to some semblance of normal. He hated fighting with Malia. 

“Hey, you wanna grab a beer?” Stiles asked suddenly. 

“Yes. I could really use one right now.”

“Really? What happened?”

“I’ll tell you once you buy me that beer, Stilinski.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long chapter Lovelies! Sorry for the late update. Had a lot of ground to cover in this one, and take my darlings through that mess. There was no way all that emotion packed into a tiny apartment wouldn’t blow over at some point. For all the Malia stans out there, sorry not sorry ^^ I don’t believe in perfect characters, and Malia’s no exception to that rule. I am really happy with how this chapter turned out and captured the essence of their bond. It's probably a personal favourite. As always, all mistakes are my own :)
> 
> Happy Holidays!!! <3


	9. Can't Stay in One Place

—

It was the last two weeks before finals started in late April. The library had been unusually packed with students, cramming for exams.

Malia and Stiles sat facing each other on the couch, with Malia’s feet tucked under him. Andy sat across from them in the living room, where they were all studying quietly.

“Do you want to take my Tuesday science exam?” Malia asked Stiles randomly, as she flipped through her textbook to see how many pages in her chapter she still had to read.

“Only if you can take my Thursday psychology.” Stiles answered without looking up.

“No.”

“Then no deal. Besides, I’d fail your perfect scoring ass, anyways.”

Malia grinned, “My professor would figure out either way, considering your handwriting is so bad.”

Stiles cocked an eyebrow as he reached over to pull her book out from underneath her textbook, “It’s much better than the chicken scratch you call English,” he teased

Malia mock gasped. She drew her feet under her and began hitting Stiles with a pillow.

“Hey, my notes!” Stiles exclaimed as the loose sheets that were neatly on his lap, flew to the floor. He laughed as he tried to pick them up and fend off her attacks at the same time.

When that proved to be futile, Stiles grabbed a pillow of his own but the angle in which he was sitting didn’t get him the best advantage to stop Malia’s well aimed blows, even though he was able to land a couple.

He ended up getting whacked on the head multiple times, messing up his hair in the process. Good thing the pillows were soft at least.

Stiles got off the sofa to escape from her easy reach, and waited until Malia gave him an opening. He then used his full weight to pin her down, with his pillow.

Malia struggled to escape but Stiles pushed in with his weight, ensuring that she couldn’t move unless he moved himself.

Malia blew the wisp of hair that was tickling her nose as Stiles smirked at her, his face inches away from hers.

“I win.”

They both were breathing heavily at that point, face flushed with exertion. “Are you going to let me up?” Malia asked while she caught her breath, trying to decide if she should renew her attack after Stiles let her go, or to get him back another day.

“Nope,” Stiles shook his head slowly, smirk still in place. He knew her. He could see how her muscles were bunching to get back at him if he let her go. Malia hating losing any game, so it was double the fun when Stiles had one up on her.

Malia bit her lip, eyeing Stiles. His face was _so_ close to hers. She was thinking about what it might be like to kiss Stiles, when she felt him easing off her just a little.

“Are you going to behave or should I just get comfortable here?” Stiles cocked an eyebrow at her.

Malia made a face. “Fine. You win.”

“Did it hurt?” Stiles asked, referring to her admitting defeat. He still refused the budge beyond the tiny bit he had given earlier.

“A little, actually. And I’ll be sure to hurt you a lot, if you don’t let me go now Stiles.”

Stiles looked smug, like he knew the threat was empty. Seeing as how Malia was fully relaxed, he pulled away from her and got on his knees, to sort out the order of his notes.

Andy had watched that entire exchange between them quietly. This was blatant flirting. It was so obvious the Stiles liked Malia back. Only these two dodos were oblivious to it. “Get married. Please get married.” Andy said finally.

Stiles chuckled, “Malia wouldn’t even date me. I doubt she would marry me. Right Lia?” Stiles winked at her, before gathering his papers on the floor. Some of them had gotten a little crumpled during their tussle.

He was too busy bent over his stuff to notice Malia’s blush after he turned away. She was quick with a reply though, “That’s only because I would be your ‘settling’ option, Stiles. It’s like I’m here already, so might as well.”

Stiles turned around to face her, sitting back on his heels. “Yeah. That works for me. And you know, you can be cute… occasionally,” he said sitting down beside her, and leaving his notes on the coffee table in front of them, “I mean, when you’re not being a bossy assh—”

It was hardly surprising when Malia started beating him with the pillow again.

—

Stiles was at the grocery store frowning first at the shopping list, and then at the labels in front of him, when his cell rang. Hoping it was Malia, Stiles fished it out quickly, “Lia do we really need this organic food? It’s really expen—”

“I don’t know who this Lia is, but if you’re actually _grocery shopping_ , I suggest she has a good reason for asking for it,” said a familiar voice on the other end of the phone causing Stiles to almost drop it. His eyes widened as he looked at the caller ID.

“Lydia…hey.” Stiles went for casual. Or he hoped that’s what it sounded like, considering he was starting to panic in Isle 3. “How’s it going?”

“Whose Lia?”

Stiles paused and then responded dismissively, “Nevermind that. Why are you calling me?” He was a private person and Malia had always been on the no-share list. For reasons like Lydia being Lydia.  

There was a gasp on the other end of the line. Oh this could _not_ be good.

“You have a girlfriend?” Lydia said in disbelief. “I mean why else would you be shopping for her?” she seemed to be thinking out loud.

“Uh.. What no!” Stiles said flustered and a little insulted. Why was it so hard to believe that he could potentially be dating someone? And since when did grocery shopping equate girlfriend??

He was here because he had lost to a best out of three, rock paper scissors game with Malia. Well technically he had won, but…that wasn’t important right now. Not when he was internally freaking out.

His mind was slow to register that Lydia was still talking, “Its so obvious! Okay you’re bringing her to Beacon Hills right? Oh, how long have you been dating? How did you meet? And why—”

“Woah, woah, hey. Slow down.” Stiles thought fast. It was clear that Lydia thought she had discovered some big secret of his.

Even if he tried to convince her otherwise, it wouldn’t work. He was beyond confused about how all of this even happened, he had to stall her somehow so he could sort it out.

“I haven’t told Scott yet, okay?” Stiles said finally.

That did the trick. But Stiles was trapped now. It was as good as admitting that he was actually dating Malia. Any hopes of taking it back was out of the question.

“Fine. But you’re bringing her, okay?”

“Fine.”

“Don’t sound so grumpy Stiles. Don’t you _want_ us to meet your girlfriend?”

“Yeah. But…” But he would have liked it more, if Malia and him were actually together. Stiles said his goodbyes and hung up the phone with a sigh.

It couldn’t hurt right? To pretend for a bit, and then stage a break up or something? And they were comfortable with one another. This..this could potentially work. He just had to talk Malia and—

Oh god. Malia was going to _kill_ him!

Stiles didn’t even realize he was pacing, until he felt a hand on his arm, stopping him mid-stride. “Hello Dearie.” Stiles turned to see an elderly lady beside him.

“Edith. Hi. How are you?”

“Could be better. Always could be better. My knees stopped hurting yesterday, so I thought to take a walk on them.”

Stiles didn’t know how to respond to that. “Err.. right.”

“How is your lady love doing?” Edith continued, oblivious of Stiles’ fidgeting. He was still trying to figure out how to approach Malia on the subject, he just barely caught Edith’s words.

Stiles’ eyebrows shot up. “What? You mean Malia?” He looked at the old lady waiting patiently for him to answer, “She’s…good. We’re both… good.” Edith nodded and after some polite exchanges, wished him goodbye.

Stiles stared at her as she walked away thinking how screwed he was. He couldn’t even hold a simple conversation about his ‘lady love’ with Edith, how was he going to convince his pack?

Stiles pinched the bridge of his nose, where a headache was forming. He looked down at the paper in his hand. Did it matter if he didn’t get any of this stuff?

He was going to die anyways, so what was the point? Stiles sighed gustily, and made his way down the rest of the list.

He used that time to plan how he was going to pull this off, and the rest of the time he spent avoiding going home, because as always, putting off the inevitable was his motto.

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hullo my Lovelies!! I can’t ever say I’ve spent so much time analyzing the workings of pillow fight, but here you go. I had written this scene back when I was writing the last chapters of STTMU, so I couldn’t find it in me to pass it up. I always knew the bridge was going to be short. I think, all things considered, the flow of the story fits in with the intro to Simple Things. I hope you think so too :))) And I hope you like it. All mistakes are my own as always.
> 
> Also, I wanted to say Thank You to all the people who left comments on my chapters. It made me really happy see what you thought, and how much you enjoyed the telling of my story. As a writer, I can honestly say, it's one of the best things :) Last chapter to update is the epilogue! Love much
> 
> ~Nenz

**Author's Note:**

> Hello Lovelies! I know I’ve left a lot of references of Stiles and Malia and their past in the previous story, (If you haven't read it, that's fine. This is the prequel) and I want to explore aspects of it. Plus writing Stiles and Malia in college is so much FUN! Let me know what you think. Hope you like :)


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